Hundreds of Richmond apartments up for auction in ‘most unique’ opportunity

RICHMOND, Va. – A large of portion of Billy G. Jefferson Jr.’s Richmond real estate empire is headed for auction.

A foreclosure sale has been scheduled for July 31 to sell off 29 of the jailed local landlord’s apartment properties, encompassing 441 units clustered throughout the Fan, Museum District and Carytown.

The scheduled foreclosure comes after two pieces of Jefferson’s River City Renaissance operations defaulted on a pair of mortgages held by Wachovia, now part of Wells Fargo, and backed by the apartment buildings.

The first loan was for $30.35 million issued to Jefferson’s River City Renaissance LC in 2005. That note is backed by 23 scattered rental complexes and includes the River City Court complex near Carytown. The second loan is a $6.30 million mortgage issued to River City Renaissance III LC and backed by six apartment buildings near the Boulevard.

The apartments at 705 N. Boulevard are part of one River City Renaissance property that will be put to auction this summer. (PHOTO: Evelyn Rupert)

It is unclear what Jefferson owes on the two mortgages. The total assessed value of the River City Renaissance LC holdings is about $27.19 million, according to city records. River City Renaissance III LC’s holdings were most recently assessed at about $5.975 million.

The properties may be sold separately or packaged together at the foreclosure sale, which will be held on the steps of the Richmond Circuit Court building. Russell Drazin of Washington, D.C. law firm Pardo Drazin is handling the auction. He did not return a phone message by press time.

The properties are well-stocked with tenants. Carter Snipes of Snipes Properties said the sale could be the “most unique buying opportunity” in a decade.